Qatar’s sovereign investment fund the QIA has applied to invest $250m in the $1.5bn IPO of Russian energy and metals group En+, making it the second largest participant after China’s CEFC, which earlier this month committed $500m to the listing through the Singapore-based AnAn Group (formerly known as CEFC International). US-based Capital World Investors is also believed to be ready to buy securities worth more than $100m. The IPO is now fully subscribed, the syndicate of banks working on the deal confirmed yesterday, with unofficial estimates putting the value of billionaire Oleg Deripaska ‘s hydropower-to-aluminium conglomerate at $7bn, somewhat lower than the $8bn to $10bn range he had been looking as he sought to raise $1bn from the IPO, mainly to pay off debts. It seems unlikely to be a coincidence that both CEFC and the QIA have agreed to participate in the En+ IPO after it emerged earlier this month that, along with fellow initial investor Glencore, the QIA had agreed to sell the majority of its stake in the part privatisation of Russian energy giant Rosneft to the Chinese company. While the deal appears to reinforce closer energy ties between Moscow and Beijing as Russia is forced to turn eastward in the face of deteriorating relations with the west, it also turns the spotlight onto the little-known CEFC, a private conglomerate with interests in energy and financial services, which in just a few years has gone from being a niche oil trader to a $25bn conglomerate with strong political ties and an exclusive contract to store part of China’s strategic oil reserve. According to a report from Reutersyesterday, it is also planning to launch its own bank early next year in an attempt to build up its financial muscle along with its oil and gas assets.A CEFC-controlled bank with a registered capital of$755 million is expected to win Chinese regulatory approval early next year, making CEFC one of the few energy companies anywhere to run a private commercial bank.